Berks

Berks

Eight Penn State undergraduate student research teams from five campuses will represent Penn State as the largest Pennsylvania college or university contingent at the Capitol Rotunda Tuesday morning (March 3) in Harrisburg. They will present their research with students from more than 100 Pennsylvania colleges and universities as part of the Undergraduate Research at the Capitol-Pennsylvania event.

When Penn State Berks Lecturer in English Composition Justin De Senso was deciding on a project for his Writing in the Social Sciences (English 202A) course, he had to look no further than the media headlines. The ongoing series of protests and civil unrest in Ferguson, Missouri and throughout the country sparked the idea to take a fresh approach to the topic of the local community’s perception of their police force. De Senso assigned his class to interview and write short biographies of members of the Reading Police Department; the biographies will be compiled for publication into a book later this year.

Approaches to improving presentation and other communication skills is the topic of the next Engineering, Business, and Computing (EBC) Division Speaker Series Presentation on Friday, February 20, 2015, at 1 p.m. in room 121 of the Gaige Technology and Business Innovation Building. Mr. Mitch Zimmer, Assistant Professor of Business will present “Four Decades of Teaching and Applying CAS100.”

Penn State Berks will host a screening of the film The Muslims Are Coming! as part of the cultural events portion of the Penn State Berks Arts and Lecture series at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 18, in the Perkins Student Center Auditorium. This event is free and open to the public.

In observation of National Engineers Week, Feb. 22 to 28, Penn State Berks is planning a variety of events and activities. The campus recently added a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering to its engineering programs, which includes a bachelor of science degree in electro-mechanical engineering technology. Penn State Berks is the only college in Berks County to offer degree programs in engineering, and all programs are taught in the state-of-the-art Gaige Technology and Business Innovation Building.

The Berks County Chapter of the Penn State Alumni Association (PSAA) will present a check for approximately $6,000 to the Berks THON organization at their dancer send-off on Thursday, Feb. 19, 2015, from 11:30 a.m.–1 p.m. in Tully’s, Perkins Student Center.

The upcoming Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Colloquium will feature the current state of relations between Cuba and the United States. The colloquium will be held from 1 to 2:20 p.m. Friday, Feb. 20, in Room 104 of the Franco Building.

Penn State Berks will host its annual Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Conference, titled “Today and Tomorrow 2015” on Tuesday, March 10, 2015. Approximately 100 eleventh-grade students are expected to attend the conference, which will feature instructors and students from Penn State Berks and the community who will provide workshops with the goal of encouraging the high school students to continue their studies in science, math, engineering, and technology.

Matthew Woods, a senior Mechanical Engineering major who began his studies at Penn State Berks and was part of the Penn State Lunar Lion Team, is currently a propulsion intern at Space X in Los Angeles. His internship began in January 2015.

In the fourth annual George J. Losoncy Lecture in Physics and Astronomy, Kunal K. Das, professor of physics at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, will give a lecture titled “The Quantum Rules: The Laws Of Physics Applied To Everyday Life” at 5 p.m. Thursday, March 19, in the Perkins Student Center Auditorium.

As a result of Penn State’s far-reaching community partnerships, including cancer prevention efforts in Appalachia and sustainable greenhouse design and production in Africa, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching has selected the University for its 2015 Community Engagement Classification. Initiatives at Penn State Berks are cited extensively in the report that led to this classification.

Scientist and entrepreneur Nina Tandon will discuss her innovative work in human tissue engineering at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 18, in Penn State Berks' Perkins Student Center Auditorium. This event is free and open to the public.